Islington Council is facing dozens of legal cases regarding damp and mould in council homes.
Details of the litigation were revealed in a report presented to the Housing Scrutiny Committee on Monday (13 March).
The report also found that the cost of providing temporary accommodation for residents in mouldy homes in January 2023 was £39,363.
These figures come after the Housing Ombudsman launched a six-month investigation into the council’s repeated failures to tackle this disrepair issue.
In December 2022, the council earmarked £1 million for an action team to review cases of damp and mould over the last three years. The team is set to check on properties’ repair work three months after their original inspection.
The council has commissioned research company Kwest to follow up with residents who have reported damp and mould.
Out of 190 households that were contacted since 6 February, 124 said they still struggled with the issue. The report said the council’s repairs team had 114 outstanding work orders related to damp and mould.
The report noted that 3,563 homes reported mould from 2020 to 2022 – 14 per cent of the council’s housing stock, and “considerably higher” than the national average of 3 per cent across social housing.
The committee was told last month that there were 20 active legal cases against the council regarding damp and mould, as well as 16 stage two complaints – where the matter is independently investigated on behalf of the chief executive.
Monday’s report showed the number of active legal cases had increased to 31. Eight of the stage two complaints had been resolved, with six having remedial work scheduled and two “likely to be escalated to access injunction”.
Una O’Halloran, executive member for homes and communities, told the committee that “ambulance chasers” were leafletting residents and encouraging them to take the council to court.
“We’re up against it,” she added. “I get a lot of people complaining to me now about these leaflets.”
“I’m conscious of how much money we lose every year from cases lost,” said Highbury Councillor Benali Hamdache. “The ambulance-chasing lawyers are not the ideal way to approach it, but they are a reality of the system as is.”
In the 2021/22 financial year, the council paid out £361,000 across 204 housing disrepair cases.
Ian Swift, director of housing needs and strategy, told the committee that a major challenge was “getting people who are qualified to do the surveys and recruit the staff” amid high demand, adding: “Every other London borough is trying to recruit the same people.”
His report said the council was upskilling existing surveyors and continually recruiting.
